(MENAFNEditorial)
An exciting crowdfunding campaign has been launched to provide quality caviar which is produced through using cruelty-free technique to harvest eggs without killing the fish. The campaign which has gained the attention of media from all over the world will help put the UK on the map as the place where Caviar is produced in an environmentally-friendly way.
We decided to speak to the people behind the crowdfunding campaign and find out what it is all about.
Dominique [Hodak] and AJ [Shapiro] you have launched a crowdfunding campaign can you tell me more about this please?
D: As you know we have launched our crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs which is one of the two largest crowdfunding platforms in the UK. The equity raised through the campaign will go towards purchasing the aquaculture equipment and fish. The potential for excellent rates of return on investment is evident and the company is expected to break even in less than two years. It’s a very attractive investment proposition.
Please tell me how did you finance The Standard Caviar Company to date?
AJ: We’ve been bootstrapping the company with no assistance from outside sources until the point where the project became shovel ready. And the reason we had to be bootstrapped was because if we resorted to funding from any outside party R&D inevitably would’ve had to be cut short and our engineers had no time to think creatively. You see the whole idea was to build a top notch aquaculture system at a fraction of the cost of turn-key solutions traditionally offered by the majority of EPC contractors (EPC - Engineering Procurement and Construction). I can tell you stories…
Why have you turned to crowdfunding instead of sourcing the finance from other avenues?
D: As you know the success of a crowdfunding campaign depends almost exclusively on the ability of the entrepreneur to connect with the community. And we believe that our product philosophy will let us tap a quickly growing group of people committed to support both sustainable development and cruelty-free production methods.
AJ: Additionally the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme – SEIS – offers UK investors a range of unique tax reliefs with the potential of full downside protection. This strengthens the case for Crowdfunding.
But just to be clear Crowdfunding is not the only source of funding. We intend to qualify for the newly reinstated European Maritime and Fisheries Fund grant funding which will be receivable on completion of the build phase and may cover up to 60% of the CAPEX.
Caviar has always been known as a rich man’s product are times changing?
D: The caviar market has completely changed. The great majority of caviar that can be found today on the shelves in the UK US and mainland Europe was harvested from the farmed fish. The only reason why sturgeon caviar is still relatively expensive compared to say salmon roe is the slow growth rates of sturgeon.
What makes your Caviar stand out from other companies who supply it?
D: Today buying caviar is an apples and oranges proposition. Names vary based on geography and mislabelling of products is unfortunately not uncommon. One of the advantages of Standard Caviar is that we only offer caviar that was produced at our farm under strict technical and sanitary conditions. We can guarantee for the quality of the products we sell. Our caviar is an ethically sourced and sustainable product that is guaranteed to be what it says on the label.
You say you are going to produce Caviar in a more environmentally friendly way what do you mean by this?
D: All caviar will be produced from farm-bred sturgeon meaning that we do not go back to nature to stock the tanks and can contribute towards protection of the wild sturgeon.
Our Recirculating Aquaculture System - RAS - is designed to be environmentally benign plant. It filters and cleans used water for recycling back through fish culture tanks and does not dump untreated waste water into the surface waters.
To reduce the environmental impact of our facility even further the stock will not be exposed to food additives GMO and artificial hormones. Additionally farming fish in a recirculating or closed-loop system with a “living” biofilter ensures that the sturgeon eggs are not exposed to antibiotics. The antibiotics are extremely harmful for the bacteria populating RAS biofilter and thus cannot be used in our RAS.
Who do you intend to sell your Caviar to?
D: Our principal markets are in the UK US and Canada. The strategy is a combination of B2C and B2B sales and our ZERO CRUELTY caviar brand shall reach and engage an environmentally conscious group of consumers looking for a new guilt-free customer experience.
With you making your Caviar in a completely different way to mass producers will your Caviar be more expensive?
D: No definitely not and since fish will stay alive it may even be a bit less expensive. We position The Standard Caviar in an affordable high end segment.
For people who want to support your campaign where should they go to invest?
D: Our campaign is available on Seedrs in soft-launch mode. At this point you will have to follow the link to invest. https://www.seedrs.com/startups/the-standard-caviar-co
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